Revolutionaries And Activists Of The Americas Codexery

Harriet Tubman

Abolitionist, Union spy, and advocate for women's suffrage.

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Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and social activist who escaped slavery and then led rescue missions for others.[1] She was born Araminta Ross around March 1822 and died March 10, 1913.[1] Tubman made about 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people using the Underground Railroad.[1]

Last updated 2026-10-07 from the source article.

Key facts and history

She carried a revolver for protection and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to turn back.[2] Tubman was never captured during her missions.[3] Tubman's parents were the enslaved individuals Harriet Green and Ben Ross.[4] An overseer threw a two-pound metal weight during a confrontation with a male slave who had left work without permission; the weight hit Tubman instead, fracturing her skull.[5][6]

Following that incident, she suffered from severe headaches, seizures, and episodes of unconsciousness, and she also began having visions and vivid dreams that she believed were divine messages.[7][8] Following her marriage around 1844, Tubman adopted the name Harriet, having previously been called Araminta.[9][10]

What the research sources say

Historian Jonathan Chism argues that stories of Tubman warning that turning back could endanger the group reflect extreme conditions and raise ethical questions about leadership and survival.[11][12] Chism notes there is no evidence she killed anyone.[12] The Journal of Disability & Religion published Chism's analysis in 2022.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Larson 2004, p. 16; Armstrong 2022, p. 56; Humez 2003, p. 156; Larson 2004, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Clinton 2004, p. 192; Wickenden 2021, p. 111 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dunbar 2019, p. 14; Clinton 2004, p. 192 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walters 2020, p. 26–27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sernett 2007, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sernett 2007, p. 16; Larson 2004, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Oertel 2015, p. 9 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Larson 2004, p. 16; Clinton 2004, p. 192; Larson 2004, p. 16; Sernett 2007, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Larson 2004, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Larson 2004, p. 16; Clinton 2004, p. 192; Larson 2004, p. 16; Clinton 2004, p. 192 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Jonathan Langston Chism, "“Go On or Die”?: Historical and Ethical Analysis of Harriet Tubman’s Authoritarian Rule to Shoot Feeble Fugitive Slaves", Journal of Disability & Religion (2022), doi:10.1080/23312521.2022.2097151. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Harriet Tubman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chism, "'Go On or Die'?: Historical and Ethical Analysis of Harriet Tubman's Authoritarian Rule to Shoot Feeble Fugitive Slaves", Journal of Disability & Religion, 3 July 2023, p. 411–436 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Harriet Tubman (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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